Some will love Squad, others will never understand it. In 2022, the military shooter is better and more beautiful than ever. Is that enough for an upgrade in the test?
The failure called Battlefield 2042 has left deep marks in the shooter genre. Many a competitor benefits from it: Squad has sold three million copies to date, the hardcore battles offer multiplayer fans that modern military fantasy they just can”t get anywhere else. Even if BF2024 is just trying again to win back the lost players with Season 1
With update 3.0, Squad recently received the biggest patch in its history – reason enough for us to update our old review and rethink our rating at the time. Because Squad has become a lot bigger in 2022 – and also more beautiful. But is that enough to make a significant leap forward in the genre comparison?
In the review, shooter expert Christian Just explains why Squad is better than ever – but still not a recommendation for all players. See what new content the update brings in the trailer:
Table of Contents
This is what Squad feels like
Mortar shells are hitting left and right. My squad mates and I press our bellies against the dusty ground. Actually, we wanted to surprise the enemy, but the hail of shells hits us instead with our trousers down. The squad leader orders me to crawl into position with my MG and lay down covering fire on the mortar position so that the others can make a safe change of position.
No sooner said than done. I fire wildly into the position with my M249, the enemy squad ducks their heads in panic and my boys begin a tactical retreat. In the end, I too crawl to safety. We regroup at a safe distance to plan the counter-attack.
This is the hardcore shooter squad at its best. Adrenaline-fuelled, communicative, action-packed. But the road to this fun is not only long and rocky, but sometimes also difficult to calculate. For anyone simply looking for a bit of entertainment at the end of the day is in the wrong place with Squad. This is at the same time the best feature of the realism that Squad claims to be – and its biggest problem.
What do I get?
Squad is a multiplayer shooter for up to 100 players that works like Battlefield in basic features. There are predefined tasks on huge maps that we have to complete in order to win the game. Each player joins a squad and takes on a role, such as squad leader with “command authority” over a maximum of eight other players, including medic or anti-tank gunner.
Seven modes let us fight for flag points, among other things, until one team runs out of tickets. In other modes, we launch or repel an invasion, fight a full-scale battle for territory or destroy enemy arsenals. Fans of Battlefield immediately understand what it”s all about.
How it”s done … that”s another story. On the 22 spacious and well-designed maps, we have no markings above the heads of the enemies, even the flag points do not appear as indicators. Typical shooter hit feedback? Missing.
Even more “hardcore”: A few (or often one) hits are enough to knock an enemy off his feet. The time to kill is therefore extremely low. At least capable medics can pull us out of the line of fire and revive us.
Practice, practice, practice
Squad is primarily a multiplayer shooter. Single-player fans must therefore do without a campaign or missions. On the other hand, the multiplayer package is very extensive. At least you can try out and practise weapons, tanks and all game mechanics to your heart”s content on the training ground. This is a useful addition to memorise the numerous features and improve your personal skills.
The Three Cs of War
From Eastern European pampas with villages and towns to sandy desert areas in the Middle East, we rely on the three C”s of war – map, compass, communication (more on that later). We have to look very carefully where the enemy is. And listen to what the boss is saying. A (capable) leader gives (sensible) orders, marks attack points on the map and sets bases that we pull up with a spade to be able to spawn and rearm. Ideally, our sergeant should meet with the others (and the commander) in the meantime to develop promising tactics for the maximum of 50 players.
Squad members look at the map, take orders, cover long distances on foot without any significant events – and sometimes spend half an hour lying in one spot fighting enemies that appear as pixels between houses 300 metres away.
This can be fun for fans of realistic military simulations, but it can also quickly become monotonous and dull for the average gamer.
But that is only part of the picture. We wage war on foot and in tanks, counter an attack with appropriate countermeasures and thunder through the air in transport helicopters to drop our squad behind enemy lines. It often feels grandiose – when it comes to such a scene.
With moped against helicopter
Depending on the map, we fight as one of a total of nine factions, each with their own weapons, vehicles, helicopters and equipment. Whether as a British army with an L85A2 rifle and an FV4034 tank or an insurgent with a rickety G3 and a moped – each faction brings its own challenges as well as advantages and disadvantages. The moped can”t do much to counter the tank at first, but with a load of explosives on it it can always make a splash.
Squad thus offers a rounded and versatile package that can keep you busy for hundreds of hours. At least, if you as a player are willing not only to learn the ropes, but also to relearn many shooter principles.
Weapons as they should be
Squad”s weapon handling is top-notch and writes realism large! Modern infantry weapons with various attachments, stationary MGs and mortars, anti-tank rocket launchers and, and, and. The weapons are fluidly animated, the models full of detail and moving parts, the shooting feels precise and direct.
And it”s tough as hell! Even low-recoil assault rifles like the M4A1 are virtually impossible to control in sustained fire. At medium range we fire precise single shots, at most in direct urban combat with combat distances of up to 100 metres we still hit something with short, controlled volleys. This credibly conveys the powerful feeling of playing an authentic weapon.
Good on your ears
Squad sounds really good! The sound design is convincing with the weapons, but also with everything else: Reverberating gunshots, booming explosions, the clatter of tank tracks or, best of all, everything at once. Squad thus creates a dense, threatening and authentic battle atmosphere.
It”s a great realisation and contributes greatly to the fact that we feel like we”re in the middle of a war – if we”re not jogging for kilometres through the botany.
Graphically up to date at last
The Unreal Engine 4 puts the landscapes in a nice light, even though the maps still looked a bit sterile at the time of release. The patchwork of grass tufts on the ground saved hardware resources, but also made the environment look unnatural. And the exterior view animations of the game characters look a bit outdated.
After a major graphics update in February 2022, many of the now 22 maps look much better. A new technique for sunlight literally bathes the action in a much better light, the scenery looks much more authentic and the colouring more natural.
In addition, numerous maps have been covered with denser, more varied and thus also more realistic-looking vegetation. Tall grass on the plains, reeds in the swampy morass and a nice bush here and there make for a much more natural environment.
The new gallery shows what we are talking about:
The result is truly a difference like night and day: After the graphics update, Squad looks like a modern shooter, visually even coming within striking distance of the beautiful Hell Let Loose, which itself is a visual highlight in the hardcore shooter sector.
Crackpoint Communication
Squad not only requires communication, it is almost entirely based on it. If you don”t communicate, you can”t play successfully. This is completely different from Battlefield, which still works for lone wolves or language muffleheads.
Squad only works smoothly if the team composition is right. Does our squad leader have a faint idea of what he is doing? Does the coordination with the other squad leaders fit, so that our individual actions become something like a choreographed attack strategy? Often all it takes is a faulty cog in the wheel to ruin an entire plan. That, too, is the realism you have to live with in Squad.
Doof is, however, that you can close squads for other players, also in terms of communication, so that with bad luck the entire team consists of small groups that do not coordinate with each other – which usually means certain defeat.
When the composition is right and everything works out, this game rocks the house and is really fun. However, it is not uncommon for a plan to come to nothing. Or your squad leader simply assigns you a task that is no fun per se.
For example, we once had the task of securing and holding a small village in case the enemy attacked via the flank. So we sat on rooftops for a quarter of an hour and listened to the others fighting doggedly for the flag point in the distance. With us, everything remained quiet – in other words, boring. In the end, our team”s tickets were used up and we had lost. That doesn”t feel good. And unfortunately it happens again and again in a similar way.
Boredom is part of the game
Whoever is up for a realistic shooter must urgently realise with Squad that all this realism also has downsides. For the authentic claim is consistently thought through to the end in Squad, which is why even the boring aspects of modern warfare are part of the gameplay.
Would you like a small example? My orders are to get supplies so that our squad can set up a new Forward Operating Base (FOB) to advance the siege of a flag point. So I spawn at our main base, miles away from the front line.
I grab a supply truck, load the resources via the handy circle menu and rumble off. Because I”m at war with map reading, a small odyssey follows along winding dirt roads until I finally deliver the resources to the point marked by the squad leader and receive words of praise. Yes, that was just 15 minutes of typical squad gameplay.
And other aspects of realism may also seem unfamiliar to shooter fans. When you run off in Squad, you first slowly accelerate to top speed. That simply feels sluggish. If we run too long, our stamina bar is used up, we become extremely slow and can no longer aim straight ahead. This slows us down and forces us to manage our breath. Again, yes, this is realistic, but it is also often annoying in a game. However, there are also many players who particularly appreciate this high demand on Squad.
Squad continues to grow in 2022
The ambitious developers at Offworld Industries are far from finished with Squad, even after its full release on Steam. This is proven by regular and sometimes far-reaching patches such as the previously mentioned graphics upgrade.
But there”s also news in terms of content: most recently, an update was released with the new map Black Coast, new vehicles and the new faction US Marine Corps, which focuses entirely on amphibious warfare. For this purpose, a new game world was introduced in the form of the Black Sea Coast, which was specially designed for an amphibious landing operation of the US Marines thanks to the ocean connection. US Marines take off from a gigantic aircraft carrier.
Waters on the existing maps have also been adapted to allow the use of the half-boats. When we hop over the waves in an inflatable boat while a thundering transport helicopter flies overhead, goose bumps quickly appear.
A video by YouTuber FriendlyNikolai shows you the amphibious gameplay. And how a penchant for (humorous) role-playing can enrich the gaming experience:
The new content does the gameplay good and broadens the technical spectrum of the hardcore shooter even further. So Squad 2022 is even more versatile – and prettier to look at.
Other new factions since the full release are the Australian army including authentic weaponry, the new maps Anvil and Goose Bay as well as countless gameplay and balance improvements. Players can clearly see that the developers have not thrown their ambition overboard even after the full release.
But who could have fun with this game? To put it bluntly, Squad remains very special fare for a very special audience in 2022.
Is Squad right for me?
Imagine you have two kids, a thousand commitments and only an hour every evening to indulge your love of shooters. You start Squad, join a server, do two lame diligence tasks and bang – bedtime. That”s certainly not what most players want.
Then again, there are others who go off together with their five buddies, like to communicate, and are not averse to somewhat slower game phases. This type can warm up to Squad.
Squad should not be judged for something it does not want to be. Squad doesn”t want to be Battlefield, CoD or Arma. It wants to go its own way and create a realistic military shooter in which communication and strategy are the trump cards. And it succeeds with flying colours!
At the same time, Squad also narrows the circle of interested parties, since you really have to look for exactly this kind of game to have your fun. If you”re not prepared to work a lot (with others), you won”t be happy with Squad.
Editorial conclusion
Squad is a hit in its own way. I pay respect to the developers for their consistent claim to realism. In order for me to understand Squad, it was necessary to re-internalise everything I had previously learned in shooters, from a different angle, in larger dimensions, with new variables that put my basic understanding of the genre to the test. Squad is a farewell to power fantasies, and a welcome to interaction in the truest sense of the word. It is, on a mental level, a great game that demands a lot from me, but can also culminate in unique moments. But if you can”t accept idle time as part of the gaming experience, you should stick to Battlefield and co.
In 2022, Squad finally arrives visually in the present. Personally, I wouldn”t have thought that prettier lighting and a few bushes would make such a big difference in terms of atmosphere. But the Knights of the Never could certainly confirm that.
